The relevance of Etag 022 Annex A 2005-05-24 in respect of The HydroHALT Sealing System

ETAG (European Technical Approval Guideline), according to the Construction Products Directive, is a favourable technical assessment of the fitness for use of a construction product. Etag 022 relates to Watertight covering kits for wet room floors and or walls. Relevant parts of Etag 022 are:

Etag 022 Annex A: Water tightness around penetrations and other details in wet room floors with flexible substrates (Edition 2005-05-24).

The scope of Etag 022 Annex A is to evaluate the ability of normally used details – such as floor gully, pipe penetrations and the ‘in and outgoing corners’ of watertight floors or floor coverings to remain water tight when exposed to water and mechanical stresses. The test procedure is intended to simulate the mechanical loads and exposure to hot and cold water that can be expected during long-term use in order to verify satisfactory performance.

Etag 022 Part 2: Kits based on flexible sheets (Version November 2010).

In a wet room, the joint between a floor and wall or a ledge and wall is called a movement joint if it is liable (by design or default) to expand and/or contract. The provision of movement joints in construction is promoted in Codes of Practice worldwide to relieve mechanical stresses that might otherwise build up in substrates due to the effects of (for example) drying shrinkage (moisture in timber joists/concrete slabs), load deflection (floors/trays/baths under imposed load of water and occupant) and structural settlement.

In Etag 022 Annex A, the ‘test specimen’ is screwed together and cannot simulate a movement joint or an expansion joint. Consequently, the ‘test specimen’ cannot test or verify the performance of a joint seal or a waterproofing kit installed over a movement joint. Movement joints are ‘normally used details’ that exist in wet areas and joint expansion is a frequent cause of leaks.

HydroHALT is designed as a movement joint seal to facilitate joint expansion between a shower tray or bath ledge and adjacent wall. Etag 022 Annex A cannot offer a technical assessment of HydroHALT as a movement joint seal or evaluate the fitness for purpose of a complimentary watertight covering kit over movement joints because there is ‘no performance determined’.